


Time Management

by Daised



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, Non Idol AU, some seoksoon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:39:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daised/pseuds/Daised
Summary: In the mist of his work Jihoon has a deadline to meet in hopes of receiving a promotion after 2 years of working for the same company. Until he meets Choi Seungcheol―who becomes his biggest distraction.





	1. New Project

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this sometime last year though only got round to continuing now. ^^; I hope you all enjoy this too!

Jihoon frowned, resulting in his dimples suddenly disappearing from either side of his lips. “What?” Was his initial response when his boss had announced an upcoming project which left Jihoon without any real time to finish his current assignment set from last week.

“Lee, I’m pairing you with Chwe.” Jihoon’s boss nods at the latter, who moves to sit in an empty seat beside Jihoon and mumbled a quick hi. His name was Hansol Chwe. Jihoon had never really spoken to him much - Chwe was a social butterfly around the office and had basically befriended everyone but Jihoon himself. Jihoon didn’t want to make a fuss with making close friends in his workplace, as long as he had a professional and respectful relationship with his co-workers without any real enemies he was fine. Sure, he got on well with one of the secretaries, Jeonghan, and one of the new employers who was recently employed, Wonwoo.

He appreciated Wonwoo’s presence because they had the most in common out of the rest of his colleagues. Jihoon would have preferred to be paired with him over Hansol.

“With both of your efforts, I know things will run smoothly. Am I right to say this, Lee?” His boss raises a brow in question as he awaits Jihoon’s answer.

“Of course Mr Hong, I respect your decision.” Jihoon answers. “I’m looking forward to working with you.” He says, turning to face Hansol and goes to shake his hand. Hansol grins and takes Jihoon’s hand in his hold to shake it full-heartedly.

“You too Lee.” Hansol seemed a lot more eager than Jihoon had expected. But eh, it could have been worse.

“Mr Hong, may I speak to you confidentially after this meeting?” Jihoon asks. His boss nods and goes on to explain the aim of this month’s event.

After the meeting.

“Mr Hong, sir, I’m afraid with starting this project that I won’t be able to finish the assignment you gave me last week?”

Mr Hong was sat in a tall chair at the back of the room with large windows behind him, the sunshine big and bright blindingly shining into the big room filled with smaller chairs and a long table. He spun his chair round to properly face Jihoon. “This current project takes priority and will take a couple of weeks,” He puts his hands on the table in front of him, “but I still expect that assignment to be done and on my desk by next Thursday afternoon.”

“Of course.” Jihoon nods his head in thanks before turning out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Great, even more stress. Just what he needed.

The moment Jihoon stepped out of work his cell phone blew up with unread messages from Kakao, mostly from his friend Soonyoung. They had been friends ever since high school and kept contact even after parting ways when they both went to college. The most recent message read _are you busy tonight?_ with a string of confused face emojis following after it.

 **[20:04] Jihoon:** Yeah. Why? Were you planning something?

After a few minutes of walking toward the train station he received another message from Soonyoung.

 **[20:08] Soonyoung:** Me and Seokmin are ordering pizza ^_^ and drinking! Join us!

Jihoon scowled at his phone screen when he entered the station. Soonyoung was lucky he mostly worked from home and Seokmin was his roommate who was just as crazy as him. So of course they had the money and time to be ordering pizza and drinking as they pleased. Though he had to admit he did miss hanging out with Soonyoung and Seokmin. He was tempted to use this one night to see them, maybe he could continue the assignment tomorrow? He still had more than a week until it had to be handed in and complete.

 **[20:15] Jihoon:** Sure, I’m on the train now. I’ll see you in about an hour.  
**[20:15] Jihoon:** Need to go home first.

He put his phone away in his blazer pocket when he got onto the train. His journey home didn’t take too long. He lived in an apartment by himself on the bottom floor. Occasionally he talked to his neighbor opposite, they started work around the same time, but they weren’t anymore than acquaintances.

Upon arriving home he put his work bag to one side and changed out of his suit into something more casual and comfortable. He pulled on a basic black t shirt with a pair of dark denim jeans to match with the deep colour palette he was wearing. Luckily, it only took a short bus journey to Soonyoung and Seokmin’s own apartment. Before he left he took a gray jacket for just in case it’d get colder on his way back home.

After an hour passed Jihoon reached the roommate’s doorstep. A few single knocks were all it took for Soonyoung to swing open the front door and pull Jihoon inside.

“I’m so glad you came! I thought you’d be busy tonight?” Soonyoung shuts the door after letting, well forcefully pulling, Jihoon inside.

He takes his sneakers off by the door and throws his jacket aside into the coat closet. “I’d rather spend time with you both. I can start work tomorrow.” Jihoon followed his friend into the living area where Seokmin was scrolling through Netflix on their television screen.

“Kwonnie, when is the pizza coming again?” Seokmin asks, his eyes glued on the screen as he scrolls through the ‘comedy’ section of films.

“Half an hour until it should be here.” Soonyoung momentarily checks his cell phone for the time. “Seokmin, Jihoonie has arrived.”  
Jihoon cringed at the nickname though greeted Seokmin nonetheless. “Hey Seokmin.”

“Jihoon, good to see you. It’s been a while hasn’t it?” Seokmin sets the remote aside. “Babe, you choose something.” Soonyoung suddenly lets out an awkward laugh as he retrieves the remote from beside Seokmin. “Jihoonie, we have big news.”

Jihoon looked slightly concerned. “It’s not bad, is it?”

“No no, it’s good. Great in fact,” Soonyoung quickly shook his head and went over to Seokmin’s side to take one of his hands. “We’re dating!”

It took a minute for Jihoon to process what Soonyoung had just said. Well, it couldn’t have been that surprising, right? Soonyoung and Seokmin had been living together for more than a year now and they practically did everything together - judging by their social media. Suddenly he felt a pang of awkwardness knowing he had agreed to spend the evening with his bestfriend and now his bestfriend’s boyfriend too.

“Should I leave?” He asks suddenly.

“Don’t!” Soonyoung let go of Seokmin’s hand to grab the smaller male in a tight hug. “Jihoon, we haven’t spent enough time together since you started your new job two Summers ago. I miss hanging out with you.”

Jihoon sighed and gently pat Soonyoung’s back as he was trapped in his embrace. “You too. I’ve just been really caught up.” Soonyoung eventually let go of him.

“Take a seat dude, the pizza will be here soon. Help Seokmin choose a movie to watch.” Soonyoung says and leaves the living room, going into one of the other rooms. Jihoon nods and takes a seat next to Seokmin.

“How long have you been dating? If you don’t mind me asking.” Jihoon looks down at his thumbs and twiddles them awkwardly.

Seokmin had to pause for a moment to have a think about the duration. “Not long, we’re coming up to three months now.”

Why hadn’t Soonyoung told him sooner? Before Jihoon could continue to question the situation in his head, Soonyoung returned when a knock sounded from the front door. 

“Pizza’s here!” Soonyoung called.

\- / -

Later on the three reminisced about the previous times they had hung out, especially when Soonyoung and Jihoon were in highschool together. It made Jihoon remember how lonely he generally felt in work and how much more alive he felt when he was around Soonyoung and Seokmin.

“Jihoon, I think you should join a dating site.” Soonyoung nudges his bestfriend in the shoulder. “You need to meet new people. Especially a partner.”

Seokmin nodded in agreement. “You’ve been working so hard lately.”

The idea of joining a dating site had crossed Jihoon’s thoughts previously although the idea didn’t appeal to him. Meeting some complete stranger online and arranging to meet in person? It was basically an episode of Catfish waiting to happen.

“I’m good.” He shrugs. “I’m not in a rush to meet anyone, so.”

Soonyoung and Seokmin slowly turned to face each other, before looking at Jihoon with uneasy grins.

“What?”

Seokmin scratched the back of his neck and nudged Soonyoung. “Well, we kind of made up a profile for you and-”

“You did, what?” Jihoon was in disbelief. Though that couldn’t have been possible, they don’t know his preferences in a partner or interests and so on.

Soonyoung darted out of the room momentarily before returning with his laptop. He opened up the screen to reveal a profile on quite a sophisticated looking dating site. There it was. Jihoon’s full name, age, his hobbies were listed and a short biography written about his lifestyle was there too.

“If it’s not accurate enough we can change it?” Seokmin insists as he takes a bite out of a slice of pizza.

“I’m more concerned at the fact that you made me a profile to begin with. You didn’t get my permission to make this.” It was visible that Jihoon was getting annoyed. Though Soonyoung only rolled his eyes. “Come off of it Ji, you really need to meet someone. Even if it’s just friendship you need to meet more people.”

“I have you both.” Jihoon says. “Plus at work I have Wonwoo and this guy named Jeonghan. What more do I need?”

“Seriously Jihoon. Look how many likes you’ve received so far!” Soonyoung points out a small notification area in the corner of the site. The number ‘10’ showed up in bold text.

“It’s not legit. You know how these sites are.” Jihoon rolls his eyes.

Soonyoung blanks him and clicks on the button. Only the latest person to ‘like’ him showed up whilst the rest were hidden ‘unless you get premium membership’. The person to show up was a male with an almost bowl looking cut, not Jihoon’s favourite style, and chestnut doey eyes. His nose looked beautifully aligned above his pink lips, along with a sharp looking jawline which was more evident from the angle of the display picture. Jihoon stared agape for a moment before deciding to click on this user’s profile.

“Why not message him? He seems interested.” Soonyoung grinned.

Jihoon took a minute to scroll onto his information. His name was Choi Seungcheol, he was twenty seven and currently working in the same area of work as him, business. He continued to read until he reached his biography.

 _‘Currently working as an assistant manager and looking for a partner to spend my free time with out of work hours’_. The first section read. Pretty generic. 

The rest went on to explain his enthusiasm and hobbies which were relevant to playing music and dancing, then what kind of relationship he was looking for.

“So, what do you think?” Seokmin asks. Jihoon bites down on his lower lip as he tries to make a decision. “I mean, I could message him. It’d be nice to have someone new to talk to. Even if it goes nowhere.”

“That’s the spirit!” Soonyoung whoop whooped in the background. “I’ll give you the login details so you can access the account from home.”

Jihoon playfully hit Soonyoung in the arm. “Obviously, it has my details on it.”

The time came closer to midnight than Jihoon had expected. He said his goodbyes and thanked them for finding a somewhat decent dating site from the looks of it. Though he knew not to expect much from it.


	2. Meeting Seungcheol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jihoon finally meets Seungcheol, although not in the way he exactly expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter is finally here! ♡ I hope you enjoy it my lovelies. ◟ʕ´∀`ʔ◞ (I'm sorry if some of the ending might sound a lil' rushed tho; I uploaded this at around midnight before college hahah)

Tuesday morning. Nine more days until his assignment was due.

“Goodmorning gentlemen.” Mr Hong announces as he enters the meeting room after the rest of his employees were seated. “I’m very much looking forward to assigning you your first task for the fair coming up.” He takes a board pen out of his blazer pocket and begins writing on the whiteboard he had wheeled in early this morning.

“I’m looking for individual ideas from your pairs. What are good ways to encourage someone to donate to a good cause?” Mr Hong walks back and forth in front of the board, waiting for someone to raise their hand. “Jeon Wonwoo, answer me my man.” 

Wonwoo was taken off-guard at being unexpectedly called out. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose first. “Explaining the cause in well enough detail and ensuring them what their money is going to specifically. Such as a homeless shelter,” Wonwoo goes on to explain, “Like ensuring them that the money goes to costs for providing more beds?”

“Precisely.” Mr Hong turns back to the board to write something else. “Have you and Kim Mingyu been discussing ideas for a cause?”

Wonwoo nods, as does Mingyu beside him.

“Chwe, Lee! My main men,” Mr Hong turns to face the pair at one side of the table. “Provide me with another way to ensure to someone that their money is safe and will most definitely make a difference for that cause.”

Before Jihoon or Hansol had any room to answer, the meeting room door opened and Jeonghan entered.

“Joshua— ah, Mr Hong someone is on the phone asking for you.”

“Who is it?” Mr Hong sets his board pen down on the table. “It’s… Personal.” Jeonghan says before leaving the meeting room.

“I’ll be returning shortly. If I’m not back here by twelve, continue with your projects.” Mr Hong hurries out of the room after his secretary.

They were all left in the meeting room to discuss amongst themselves.

“So Jihoon, I had some ideas I researched last night and I wondered if you could give me some feedback?” Hansol says as he takes out a miniature note book from one of his blazer pockets.

“Shoot.” Jihoon turns his chair to face him.

He sat silently and listened to Hansol’s notes. Ever since he had woken up this morning all he could think of was last night. Seokmin and Soonyoung were actually dating, and they had actually made him a dating profile where someone really attractive supposedly ‘liked’ him and replied before he left for work. Jihoon nodded as Hansol read out his notes one by one. That Seungcheol guy was incredibly handsome. He couldn’t have looked that good in person, far from it.

When twelve o’clock hit Mr Hong still hadn’t returned so they had to go their individual desks in the office to start researching for more ideas. Boring. Jihoon still hadn’t finished his previous assignment. He honestly just wanted today to end so he could actually make a proper start.

Before he knew it his first break came about an hour later. He took his phone out and immediately fled to that dating site to see if Seungcheol had replied. He had and asked if they could briefly meet in the afternoon at a local coffee shop. The place wasn’t a long distant from Jihoon’s workplace and the time seemed appropriate, it was during his next break. Why not?

Later on.

“Jihoon, we’re going out to grab some food if you want to join?” Hansol asked, grabbing his wallet and briefcase. “Minghao and Jun from the other department are joining and bringing others.”

He still hadn’t received a reply from this Seungcheol person. It wouldn’t hurt to go out anyway, Hansol was friendly enough to invite him.

“I’d love to. If you guys don’t mind, of course.”

“Please. I just kind of wanted to bond more since we’re working together, you know?” Hansol puts his wallet into one of his pockets. Jihoon got out of his seat and put his phone away as himself and Hansol left the building and met Jun and Minghao outside. When the two had come from their department, the taller male with short raven hair was looking down at his phone whilst a smaller brunette followed.

“Is anyone else coming?” Hansol asks as they start making their way away from the building and towards a Cafe; the same Jihoon suggested to Seungcheol.

Jun nodded. “Seungcheol says he’ll be there waiting. He said he’s meeting someone.”

Jihoon suddenly froze up and quickly reached into his blazer pocket to check his phone. The message notification popped up from Seungcheol. Did he… Work at the same place as him? In another department? He quickly walked ahead of the three towards the Cafe and let himself in. It was fairly busy but it wasn’t packed. A few tables were available at one side though one chair was already taken. He couldn’t make out whether it was Seungcheol or not from the back. This was almost surreal.

Hansol, Jun and Minghao arrived moments later and straight away went to join the table at the side where someone was already sat. Jihoon nervously followed behind them, being the shortest gave him the advantage of hiding himself momentarily before they reached their seats, and sat down in one seat next to Hansol. He refused to look up straight where this stranger was sat opposite him.

“Jihoon, this is Seungcheol.” Hansol introduced. Before Jihoon could say anything Seungcheol spoke up instead. 

“Yeah, I know him. We’re acquaintances.”

Barely. Jihoon lifted his head up to get a better view. There he was, the real-life portrait of his display picture.

“We met online briefly though I hadn’t had the opportunity to introduce myself properly.” Seungcheol grinned, lifting up his hot beverage to take a quick drink. Jihoon suddenly went red; silently praying that he wouldn’t mention that they met on a dating site. Luckily Minghao changed the subject by bringing up a situation that occurred in his and Jun’s office. Hansol was listening in sounding very intrigued, whilst Seungcheol was looking down at his cell phone in his hands and sipping from his coffee every now and then.

Jihoon’s phone buzzed and he looked down at the screen. It was a notification from Seungcheol, sat in front of him. He rolled his eyes and decided to check it anyway.

_‘Let’s get out of here’_ it read. Where exactly? Jihoon’s break wouldn’t last forever so he wouldn’t have a lot of time to spend speaking with Seungcheol. Instead he replied to the message suggesting they meet after work at the same place.

_‘Sure thing’_ was Seungcheol’s last reply on the phone. Jihoon got out of his seat to buy himself a drink before he’d have to head back to the office with Hansol.

It wasn’t long until the work day ended and Jihoon was still left with plenty of time to finish his assignment for his boss; although he kept his word that he and Seungcheol would meet again at the same Café from earlier. Jihoon made his way there after parting ways with his fellow co-workers. To Jihoon’s surprise he was already there standing at the counter.

“You got here quick.” Jihoon says, lining up behind him. Seungcheol turned around after receiving his drink. The guy really enjoyed hot beverages from the look of it. “Indeed I did. I’ll pick a table for us.”

He chose a booth close to one of the larger windows within the Cafe. Jihoon followed over when he had received his order and sat opposite Seungcheol. “You look just as cute as your display picture.” Seungcheol says.

Jihoon disliked being complimented usually as it made him feel awkward. He forced a small grin and thanked the ravenette nonetheless. “The same to you. You’re… Really built.” He observes the male’s chest which was practically rippling under his lavender work shirt. He was wearing a blazer earlier which he had clearly taken off now.

“I work out a lot in my free time.” Seungcheol says proudly as he takes small sips of his hot drink. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure that out, though Jihoon couldn’t help but look at his chest every now and then in disbelief. He only came back to his senses when Seungcheol suddenly laughed. “You’re adorable.” He cooed.

Jihoon scowled as he low key felt his cheeks begin to flush slightly. “You already said that.”

“I said you were _cute._ Ah, so stubborn.” He says jokingly and grins at Jihoon. The exact same grin from his display picture. Jihoon suddenly grew suspicious. “Were you hired to talk to me? You seem too perfect,” He says. “Am I not out of your league?”

Seungcheol lets out a hearty laugh a second time. “Hired by who, exactly?” Jihoon suddenly felt foolish for asking. “I was just checking.”

“And to answer your second question.” Seungcheol makes proper eye contact this time with the male sat in front of him. “Attractive guys, like yourself, aren’t out of my league.” Jihoon’s blush became a lot more visible after that. He couldn’t have liked this guy already after one physical meeting, could he?

It wasn’t long until the two parted their ways and exchanged their personal numbers too. Jihoon was adamant on starting a part of his project the moment he got home. But the second he stepped foot into his apartment he had new texts from Seungcheol asking if they could meet up again tomorrow after work and go to Seungcheol’s place. Jihoon happily agreed. It couldn’t hurt. It was something different to his routine instead of coming straight home and continuing unfinished work. After that discussion he was finally prepared to begin. His laptop was out and he had made himself a drink too to keep him going; then Soonyoung calls.

“Are you alright?” Jihoon asks. All he could hear were muffled sounds from the other end. “Seokmin.” Hic. “Has this new job a few times a week.” Sniffle. “And I miss him so much Jihoon.” Jihoon couldn’t help as his eyes rolled back on their own accord. “When does he finish?” 

Soonyoung was silent for a second in thought. “In an hour.”

“That’s kind of late.” Jihoon opened up documents on his laptop to try and get a start whilst he was conversing with Soonyoung. “Can you keep me company until he finishes, please?” It wasn’t like Jihoon could just say no. Well, he could but Soonyoung was his bestfriend and they didn’t speak often.

“Sure. I met that guy today by the way, from that site.” Soonyoung gasped. “That was so fast, go you. I thought you didn’t even like the site?” 

“I didn’t.” Jihoon admitted. “But it turned out he worked within the same company and we’re going to meet again tomorrow.”

“Like a second date? Where?” Soonyoung was growing more curious and clearly he sounded like he’d already cheered up from the fact Seokmin was still at work. “His place.” Jihoon answered casually. “Remember to bring protection for just in case. Promise me you’ll do that. No matter how freaky it gets—”

“Soonyoung listen to yourself. We **just **met.” He said quickly. “I just… I can’t rush into anything. We aren’t even dating anyway.”****

Soonyoung snorted. “You know I’m kidding. But anyway, give me details right after you go to his, OK?”

“I will.” Jihoon replies. “I think I’m going to sleep. You’ll be OK though, right?”

“Yeah. Speak to you later Jihoonie. Have a good time tomorrow!” Soonyoung says before ending the call.

Eight days.

The work day went quickly, surprisingly. All Jihoon could think about was seeing Seungcheol again. The image of him from the Cafe wearing that lavender shirt with his beautifully styled hair replayed itself in his mind. 

Right after work Seungcheol had met him in the employee's car park and they went straight to his. The journey wasn’t long for them to reach Seungcheol’s. He lived in a house that looked incredibly like a modern estate with a gate and fence around the exterior although the house wasn’t very big. After passing the front gates Seungcheol parked and led Jihoon inside into the main living room.

“Your place is stunning.” Jihoon looked around as he took in every detail. A large burgundy plush couch sat across a reasonably sized TV; shelves on the wall displayed multiple awards and few trophies which looked as though they were from sporting events and some framed photos of Seungcheol and a group.

“Would you like me to get you anything?” Seungcheol asks, taking off his blazer to hang it up near the door. “I have wine?”

“I’m good, though thanks.” Jihoon answers. They both go to sit down on the couch beside each other. There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds until Seungcheol finally spoke.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday.” He says. “I know it’s crazy that we just met.” Jihoon’s blush slowly started to return. “Me too. Don’t worry about it.” Jihoon said. Seungcheol exhaled and leaned back in his seat. “I’ve never seen much use for so-called ‘dating’ sites. A friend of mine actually encouraged me.” The ravenette admitted.

Jihoon snickered. “So did mine. Well, they made the profile for me. Somehow pretty accurately.”

“That’s crazy.” Seungcheol snorted in laughter. “Tell me about it. They meant well though.” Jihoon grinned and faced Seungcheol properly. He only suddenly realised how close they were on such a big couch.

“Same with mine. I’m glad I met you though.” Seungcheol says. “Me too.” The two sat again in another awkward silence until suddenly their lips were pressed together in the midst of the silence and Jihoon’s mind was slow to register what was happening. Moments later they parted and Jihoon’s eyes were widened - staring at Seungcheol.

“I’m so sorry.” Seungcheol jumped back in shock. Instead of giving the male a verbal reply he leaned in and pecked the ravenette’s lips, this time deliberately. “Don’t be.”

“Is it bad that I know I already like you? We haven’t even known each other that long-” Seungcheol jumbled up his words slightly at the speed he was trying to explain.

“No, because I like you too."


End file.
